We tend to associate hypertension with older age, but the truth is that anyone can develop high blood pressure — even kids. In fact, pediatric hypertension occurs in 2 to 5 percent of kids and is one of the top five chronic diseases in children, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. While an elevated blood pressure reading may seem alarming, it isn’t always a sign of a more serious disease. Here’s what every parent should know about blood pressure in kids. …

Like any parent, Brittany Young has scores of photos of her four children, whether they’re celebrating the holidays, visiting Disney World or just goofing around. But it’s a picture of her son Kellen at Boston Children’s Hospital that has the potential to bring tears to a viewer’s eyes. Surrounded by his care team, Kellen sits in his hospital bed, a wide smile on his face. There, amid the stuffed toys and colorful blankets, rests a seemingly innocuous item: a package of Pampers. Yet for Kellen and his family, those diapers mean so much more. They’re a sign that this little boy’s newly transplanted kidney is working just as it should. …

Cameron Grubb likes to shoot Nerf guns, and even his own doctors aren’t immune from his aim — in fact, they often fire back. It’s a playful act that everyone welcomes, however, particularly since this 6-year-old has defied the odds multiple times in his young life.

Just three years ago, Cameron was struggling to survive after being diagnosed with extremely high blood pressure — so elevated, in fact, that his clinicians in Kansas thought the monitor must be broken. When they eventually confirmed the reading, it was 170/140, a dangerous level that sent him to the local intensive care unit for nine days. …